PUC Won't Reclaim Easements / New policy on hold after big protest

Angelica Pence, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, January 24, 2001

2001-01-24 04:00:00 PDT San Francisco -- A controversial plan by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to force North Fair Oaks residents off land it owns near Redwood City will be revamped after scores of people showed up to protest yesterday.

Nearly 100 residents from the tiny community traveled to San Francisco City Hall to argue that they had the right to remain on land that they have been caring for and using for decades.

And at the end of a two-hour hearing, residents were assured by the commission that their request will be considered when the plan is rewritten.

Carolyn Clebsch, community organizer in North Fair Oaks, said she felt confident that the residents' concerns were heard by commissioners and will become part of the policy.

"We came away with a good feeling," she said. "Just goes to show what a little organizing will do for a community."

At issue is a controversial PUC policy of taking back its right-of-way land holdings in the Peninsula, including a populated strip that slices across North Fair Oaks, a one-square-mile residential neighborhood that borders Redwood City to the south.

As a result of yesterday's hearing, commissioners directed their staff to rewrite the policy. The PUC is expected to vote on the right-of-way issue next month. Until then, the new policy will remain on hold, said Beverly Hennessey, a PUC spokeswoman.

Approved more than a year ago, the policy calls for residents to vacate any "illegal encroachments" situated on top of the Hetch Hetchy pipelines owned by the commission. The problem: Most residents have had unlimited access to the properties via deeds or by agreement with the commission. Most of them have taken care of the land, residents argue, often building on it, putting in landscaping or keeping it clear with the express consent of PUC officials.

Indeed, several residents have put up fences, planted flower and vegetable gardens and put in lawns -- all with PUC approval. Lands fenced off and under the management of the PUC, meantime, are often laden with weeds and utilized as makeshift dumps or homeless camps.

Crime is also a problem on such properties, said San Mateo County Sheriff Don Horsely, one of several county and city officials who attended yesterday's hearing. "Having an empty lot behind a home is an invitation for criminal activity."

Making matters worse, many of the estimated 100 homeowners affected by the policy change said that they were given little notice by the PUC and learned about the new policy almost a year after it was approved. But Hennessey said at least two notices outlining the changes were mailed to homeowners in North Fair Oaks and printed in local newspapers.

"We are the best caretakers of your property that you'll find," said William Clebsch, associate director of business, finance, computing and communication services at Stanford University. "We're there all the time, we can reduce expenses. It's just a matter of being local."

To that end, residents asked that five basic points be addressed and clarified in the new policy. Among them, that fences that can be readily opened, removed or passed through by PUC staff be permitted, as well as landscaping that meets commission criteria. Residents likewise asked that any new property owners be able to renew permits solely for fencing and landscaping.

Equally important, homeowners requested that the new policy stipulate that permits for fenced yards without deeded rights and approved residential encroachments not exceed $100 per year.